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The local administration and police are allegedly colluding with land grabbers to evict the landless people from the khas land of Sonaidanga Bil, a stretch of lowland at Dhamsonai village of Raiganj in Sirajganj.

Over 80 landless families, mostly farmers, said that they had been using the over 28 acreas of khas land of the bil for the past 50 years for fisheries and agriculture. In 2008, their fight with the land grabbers began which still continued. 

The farmers also alleged that the Raiganj upazila nirbahi officer, assistant commissioner (land) of the upazila and Raiganj police officer-in-charge were supporting the land grabbers in their attempts to prevent the landless farmers from using the land for livelihood.

‘Back in 2005, we first identified that the land grabbers tampered the record of 9.43 acres of over 28 acres of khas land. They attacked us several times and filed false cases against those who are raising voices against them,’ Rahamat Ali, a landless peasant told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.

He also said that in 2005 they filed a case against the alleged land grabbers on charges of forging the land documents.

The landless people named some of the alleged grabbers as Golam Hossain, Dhangara Union Parishad member Shariful Islam Sharif, Aser Uddin, Helal Uddin and Umar Faruk.

Rahamat said that the local admiration and police were supporting the land grabbers in illegally occupying the khas land.

In a clash over harvesting paddy in the khas land of the Sonaidanga Bil in the last week of April, at least eight people were injured, said Rahamat. 

Two cases were filed from both sides and the police claimed that they had arrested people from each group following the cases.

The landless people said that the fight triggered when the grabbers tried to cut paddy cultivated by the landless farmers in the khas land of Sonaidanga Bil.

A landless woman Morzina Dey along with her husband was critically injured in the clash.

‘I went to prevent the grabbers from cutting paddy in the field. They hit me on my head. I had 13 stiches for the injury. They broke my husband’s leg,’ she told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.

Mohammad Osman Gani, another landless peasant, said that they had invested money and labour in cultivating paddy in the bil, but the paddy of the entire 28 acres was now kept under the custody of the union parishad chairman after being cut under the supervision of the UNO and police officer-in-charge.

In 2016, the Sirajganj deputy commissioner also filed a case against the alleged grabbers on charges of grabbing the 9.43 acres of khas land by means of tampered documents. 

Having denied the allegations of supporting the land grabbers, Raiganj upazila nirbahi officer Mohammad Nahid Hasan Khan said that they were trying to recover the khas land.

‘We urge both parties to maintain peace and follow the court order. Both the fighting groups filed 12 cases against each other,’ said the UNO.

Nahid also said that they were awaiting the verdict of the case filed by the Sirajganj deputy commissioner in 2016 to evict the land grabbers. 

Raiganj police officer-in-charge Asif Mohammad Siddiqul Islam said that they did not support any particular groups.

‘If we did not take step, two or three people might die in the fighting. After the clash, six people from both groups were arrested,’ the officer-in-charge said about the latest clash in April.

‘The Sonaidanga Bil covers over 56.68 acres of land, of which 28.34 acres are khas land. But the previous generation of the present grabbers tampered the documents and claim ownership of 9.43 acres of the khas land instead of their 0.43 acres,’ said deputy assistant land officer of Dhangara union Abdullah Talukder. 

The grabbers claim 17.49 acres of khas land tampering with another document despite of having documents of 8.06 acres while the overall land exists in the document 18.91 acres, he said.

‘The papers show more land than the real size,’ Abdullah added. 

Omar Faruk, who faced allegations of land grabbing, said that the 9.43 acres of land was recorded in the names of their fathers and uncles.

Golam Hossain, another man facing the allegations, said that they were waiting for the verdict of the case filed by the deputy commissioner. 

Sirajganj deputy commissioner Mir Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman said that the government would decide how it would distribute the khas land. 

‘If the people are actually landless, the government will look into the matter,’ he added.

The landless people demanded to allow them to use the land for their survival.

Representatives of several non-governmental organisations, including the Association for Land Reform and Development, Nijera Kori, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association and Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation, visited the spot on May 12.  

‘We urged the district and upazila administration to allow the landless people to use the khas land for their livelihood. The landless people are entitled to use khas land,’ Rafiqul Islam, ALRD programme officer for advocacy and lobbying, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.

Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation human rights officer Tania Khatun said that the landless people should be allowed to use the khas land until the dispute ends.